Final Project: Refuge from the Cold

http://vimeo.com/80661504

Screen Direction and POV from Vanessa Rodriguez on Vimeo.

Happy Sushi

Happy Sushi from Bart Radio SEA/NYC on Vimeo.

I chose the short film, Happy Sushi, to analyze, because it uses a sequence of images and sounds that all connect with one another to make sense as a whole. The short film centers around a wobbly table in a Japanese restaurant that is continuously frustrating a guest, the main character. As a solution to this issue, he uses a match book that seems to help him in other ways than the one he intended it for. 
At 0:16 - 0:20, he thinks the wobbly table problem is fixed because of the match book he placed underneath one of the legs, which makes it stable temporarily. Then it gets uncomfortable and strange as the tension rises due to the argument in a different tongue getting more intense and the match seemingly moving, and causing the table to wobble again, even more every time he looks down at the floor at 0:50 - 1:00 and 1:09 - 1:20.
The tense music starts around 0:57, when he first notices the paranormality of the match moving by itself and causing the table to endlessly wobble, and builds up causing a sort of suspense and intensifying the chaos of the whole situation for the character. At 1:36 - 1:40, the character's suspicions are confirmed of the match book having a mind of its own with the POV shot of it forming the middle finger aimed directly at the character.
The usual medium close-up throughout the short film of the character at the table enters a personal space where we can see his frustration build up as well as feel it. The over-the-shoulder shot followed by his reaction, 0:33 - 0:40, also reveals how chef's argument with the server fuels his frustration.
The match book's intentions are revealed from 1:56 to the end of the film at 2:26 as the opposite of heinous, when the character searches for the missing match book one last time under the table and misses the deathblow of an aggravated chef's knife slicing through him. When he sits back up, the match book is right on the table and when he turns it around, it says, "you're welcome," on it.

Urban Orchestra

Link: City Orchestra

      I decided to record the sound for the audio project outside the doors of the Lafayette NYU dorm where my best friend, Jennifer Caceres, lives.

      

      I listened to the different sounds that clashed together as my mind slowly wandered off into one of the thousands of daydreams I have throughout the day. I started imagining each little sound like a different instrument with its unique timbre. The sound of the cars honking, engines roaring, and wheels turning all mixed in a forceful way that reminded me of an orchestra of dissonant sounds. Although these sounds come from all around you, they each hit you in different places. 

      The city isn't for everyone. Many people prefer satisfying, consonant chords over the random, unsettling dissonance. But there are those urban addicts that love being surrounded by the random, unnerving, and restless sounds of New York City that attack their senses in a myriad of ways everyday.

      Not every sound the city is capable of producing can be heard, yet there are so many just outside the dorm including the footsteps of people passing by, the usual sound of traffic, impatient honking, and an NYU bus stopping to service its students. The city music, made up of this orchestra of sounds, brings just as much life to the city as the concentration of skyscrapers and visually electrifying lights of the city that never sleeps.

Museum of the Moving Image

     The  exhibit that caught my attention the most was Behind the Screen where they portray the way in which film editing, aesthetics concerning moving images, and optical instruments helped develop and contribute to the moving image itself.

     One of the many features that the exhibit Behind the Screen displays is the makeup aspect of making a film. The numerous masks that the museum displays are countless and intriguing. The mask of Jim Carrey from the movie The Mask, 1994, is one of my favorites because of the details involved in the creation of the mask such as the wrinkles and shape of the nose, which make you feel like you are staring at something more than just a mask. I also admired the life mask of Marlon Brando from The Godfather, 1972. Dick Smith transforms Marlon Brando into an aging Don Vito Corleone in a way that you have to remind yourself, as you're watching the movie, that Brando is only in his late 40's. The mask of Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1923, is exquisite considering the fact that it is only the 1920's and makeup artists such as Lon Chaney are creating monsters already in such a unique way. For this mask, the primary ingredient was mortician's wax that Chaney used to apply to his face in order to become Quasimodo. There were also a segment of various masks of aliens and monsters with sharp teeth and slimy skin that fascinated me the most. One look at these realistic masks and you feel as if they're right there and you're in danger. One can be amazed by the fact that these special effects that were arising during this time is partially the reason why we love horror movies. Masks like these can transport us to a world of the unknown and make us believe that we are in that world. Creativity cannot even begin to describe what these artists have made. It's something much more magical. It's imagination made a reality.

Artist Statement

     My goal is to never stop reaching for one. I'm inspired by and hope to create art that grabs peoples' attention and evokes the emotions that make us human. It amazes me when any form of art is able to achieve a chaos that is somehow balanced perfectly. Intense and contrasting colors are a constant obsession of mine that I come across randomly everyday, like in architecture lighting or music videos on youtube, because they have a way of waking you up and invigorating your senses. I respect art that steps outside the boundaries of real life and shows what the imagination is capable of, like the band Gorillaz, with illustrated characters as the band members blending in with the real world. I like bold images and sounds that break the constant cycle of New Yorkers, walking straight ahead and hurried everywhere they go, such as performers in the subway or graffiti when I walk around Brooklyn.

    My main focus is web programming and graphic design. I love the way that precise coding can create so many things and make a blank webpage come to life, and the way that Graphic design gives me the ability to construct any image or idea in my head into an actual visual design.

    Everything is always a learning process for me because I never want to stop creating. I believe that people as artists live in a constant cycle with creativity that never ends, but nurtures them. Every time we create, we evolve and our imagination becomes overflowed with a new stream of ideas. We never reach our goal because we are always reaching a higher state in our creative minds. Our surroundings, the people we meet, and our experiences re-inspire us and the evolution continues. Everyone is limitless by nature, that's the message that I'm inspired by and hope to inspire others with also.

    This Intro to film class is a learning experience for me since I've never done anything involving film before. My TA from last semester showed us the video Baby, I'm yours by Breakbot, and I remembered it because I thought it was a perfect blend of graphic design and video, and a direction I'd like to go in with this class.